It is the object of Zen, therefore, to save us from going crazy or being crippled. This is what I mean by freedom, giving free play to all the creative and benevolent impulses inherently lying in our hearts. Generally, we are blind to this fact, that we are in possession of all the necessary faculties that will make us happy and loving towards one another. All the struggles that we see around us come from this ignorance. Zen, therefore, wants us to open a ‘third eye’, as Buddhists call it, to the hitherto un-dreamed-of region shut away from us through our own ignorance. When the cloud of ignorance disappears, the infinity of the heavens is manifested, where we see for the first time into the nature of our own being. We now know the signification of life, we know that it is not blind striving nor is it a mere display of brutal forces, but that while we know not definitely what the ultimate purport of life is, there is something in it that makes us feel infinitely blessed in the living of it and remain quite contented with it in all its evolution, without raising questions or entertaining pessimistic doubts.

from D.T. Suzuki, Essays In Zen Buddhism, Vol. 1, 1927

Kiddieland was an amusement park in Melrose Park that opened in 1929. I fondly remember going to it as a child, and took Zoe there once (she’s never much cared for amusement parks). Unlike the modern variety, it was a park that catered in particular to young children, with a miniature train running along its periphery. It closed on September 26th, the victim of a feud between family members who owned the park and their kin who owned the land.

I went there on September 19th, just to take a few photos and say good bye. The park was a bit shabby, maintenance no doubt the victim of imminent closure. The Little Dipper roller coaster was badly in need of repainting.

The rides and other equipment will be auctioned off next month. Will someone bid for everything and attempt a resurrection? More photos here.